Bashar al-Assad claims terrorists among Syrian refugees

There are terrorists among the Syrian refugees making their way to Europe, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad told Czech television in an interview, excerpts of which were broadcast yesterday.

Asked whether Europeans should fear refugees from Syria, Assad said: "It's a mixture. The majority, they are good Syrians, they are patriots . . . But of course you have infiltration of terrorists among them, that is true."

Czech television said it had interviewed Assad in Damascus and would air the piece in full today.

Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have reached Europe this year, sparking fears in many countries that Islamic militants may be among them.

The attacks in Paris on November 13th have heightened calls in the EU for more controls on people arriving. Two of the Paris attackers had their fingerprints taken while travelling through Greece in October, a Paris prosecutor said. – (Reuters)